This Nissan Silvia S12 1.8 ZX Turbo is mine and I am proud of it. I have had the car since 1985 and have transformed it from the
early version spec to the later one. It is crammed with gadgets, warning
lamps and extra safety features.

Click on a thumbnail to enlarge the image.

Engine bay.
To the front is a power steering cooler.
To the right is a nice air filter supplied by Kelvyn with the water bottle neck
for the water injection next to it.
The wiring is a little untidy and needs taping up.
In front of the radiator are two electric fans that operate in conjunction with
the air conditioning. They also operate through a thermo-switch sited in the
automatic transmission sump and blow over a separate radiator mounted behind the
main radiator.
The coolant reservoir, washer and water injection bottles all have level
sensors.
When the intercooler temp gets above 40 degrees C an automated water spray pulse is directed
over it at 30 second intervals.
The strut brace is solid stainless steel and is useful for mounting alarms on.

Maintained to the highest standard this Nissan Silvia S12 has
benefited from engine oil and filter changes every 2500 miles. The differential
oil, power steering fluid, brake fluid and transmission fluid are changed at 25000 miles. The
timing belt is replaced at 30000 mile intervals and the valve clearances
adjusted if necessary. The coolant has never been allowed to fall below 20%
antifreeze solution. Suspension bushes are checked annually along with the
grease to the front suspension bottom ball joints. The brakes are checked every
six months including inspection of the handbrake cables. A full under-body
inspection is carried out before each winter. The drain holes to the sills are
checked annually. More Waxoyl is introduced every 5 years and the paintwork is
polished at least every 3 months.

Instrument
Panel:
Added led to left at side of boost gauge lights red above standard boost.
Added led to right at side of oil pressure gauge flashes red until oil pressure
builds up.
Added led below centre lights yellow with automatic lock-up over 55 mph. (out of
view, see silviagod's wife's)

Rear Head Restraints:
Fitted some time ago and required a strip-down of seat backs to weld brackets to
top of framework. The extra head restraints and plastic fittings were obtained
from a breaker's yard.

The
Pilot's Seat:
The four switches on the side of the plastic seat trim are for inflating and
deflating air mats. The base has thigh and side support mats, the back has
lumbar and side support mats. The top switch operates a heating element to the
base and back and these elements are wired through a timer circuit.

Additional Gauges:
Left is the automatic transmission fluid temperature gauge which uses a
change-over switch to monitor the engine oil temperature. Right is a voltmeter.
Top left is a warning lamp for the passenger heated seat. (needs refining) A
separate boost gauge is mounted on the windscreen pillar. The led with the boost
gauge illuminates with the water injection.

Passenger
foot -bar:
Fitted as standard and looks good. It has started many a conversation over the
years. I have even fitted one in the other two Silvia cars.

Warning Lamps in detail:
From the strip above the glove box there is the ice warning lamp, this
illuminates at 2.5 degrees C and is operated through a circuit I made myself.
The sensor is mounted in the passenger front air intake.
The seatbelt warning lamp just flashes for 7 seconds and is wired through a
Bluebird time control unit.
The turbo cool and turbo warm lights are electronically controlled. The cool
lamp lights yellow and the warm lamp lights green. Normal driving and both are
lit, but when things get hotter the yellow lamp goes out and the automated spray
pulse over the intercooler is activated. The yellow lamp flashes with every
pulse. Starting from cold and only the yellow lamp is illuminated.
Level sensors in the coolant and washer reservoirs light their bulbs, and the
sensors used were taken from Vauxhall Carltons at the breaker's yard.
The Heated rear window was standard, but I have added a relay to the
circuit to stop the switch burning out. It is also on a timer from a Bluebird
time control unit and switches off after around 15 minutes.
The low fuel light is standard but stopped working after 3 years. I replaced the
sender for a Toyota one and it has worked ever since.
The outside temperature display unit was only around £5 but needed to be
modified before use. Two slots were cut either side and bulb holders were bonded
to it for night illumination and a separate battery compartment was sited next
to the fuse box. For battery conservation the supply circuit was wired through
an ignition relay. The sensor is mounted in the front driver's side air intake.
All the bulbs except the seatbelt and heated rear window light up with the
bulb-check relay.

To either side of the instrument panel are lenses with two
spaces for bulbs. The left houses the rear fog lamp light and a bulb failure
lamp for the rear. All the rear bulbs are covered and the sensors were taken
again from a Bluebird.
The right houses a front fog light and a bulb failure lamp for the front. Again
sensors were taken from Bluebird but the headlamps and fog lamps have their
earths wired through modified sensors from 1984 Bluebirds. I arrived at this
solution from studying diagrams in the S12 workshop manual. The bulb failure
lamps light with the bulb-check relay.

Directly above the steering column I managed to squeeze three
more lamps in. A lamp for the heated seat, a warning lamp for
my reversing spot lamp and a lamp to tell me the headlights are on rather than
just up on the parking lamps. Above the switches are plastic cowls with bulbs
fitted to illuminate the switches at night. I found that I couldn't find the
right one at night! These can be dimmed in conjunction with the panel lights.

Other warning lamps include a blue led that lights with the air
conditioning compressor sited to the left side of the heater controls, a red led
that comes on when the transmission fluid reaches 100 degrees C and the electric
fans operate located below the gauges next to the ash tray, the passenger heated
seat lamp mentioned previously, and a flashing led next to the switch for
turning off the intercooler mist device located to the left of the steering
column. There is also an led on the boost gauge pod that operates when the
pressure switch operates the water injection.

I addition to all these lamps I have added one to each door
catch that illuminates when the ignition is on. An alarm led and an immobiliser
led are near the ignition barrel, and there is a flashing 3 led array in the
front windscreen that comes on with the alarm.

Switches:
Below the main switches, and to the right of the steering column is a horizontal
blank then the big ugly square thing with the illumination control knob in it!
Two switches fitted vertically fit nicely in this hole. A Bluebird illumination
control switch wired to, you've guessed, a Bluebird time control unit fits to
the left side, and on the right using the same type of switch, but is
wired to operate the opening and closing of silviagod's garage door.
In the horizontal blank is a front fog lamp switch with a built in warning lamp
from a Nissan Micra 1990 onwards, on the old shape Micra.To
the left of this are two more switches with one a Micra type for the reversing
spotlight, and a headlamp washer switch for the air horns.
To the opposite side of the steering column, at the same level, is the
intercooler spray system switch that turns the system on or off, it has a manual
spray position as it uses a rear wash/wipe switch. If you leave the switch on at
MOT test time the man sometimes gets wet when he tries to read the vin plate for
the chassis number!
On the elbow rest console are two switches to the left of the handbrake lever,
The bottom switch operates the headlamp wash/wipe, (standard on silviagod's) and
the top switch operates the tilt slide sunroof. The switch is (you guessed) from
a Bluebird, and is an illumination control switch.
Intermittent wipe has been added to the rear wiper and the blue sliding scale
has been changed to orange to match the instruments and switches.A second cigarette lighter was added lower down so silviagod can smoke and
charge his mobile phone at the same time. You will also notice from this shot
the adjustable steering column adjuster also non-standard.
The remaining switches are two small toggle switches attached to the panel with
the two gauges fitted next to the ashtray. One changes the temperature gauge
from Transmission fluid to engine oil, and the other switches the two fans for
the air conditioning radiator on permanently.
The fans are from a Nissan Micra and you have to reverse the polarity with the
fan being on the opposite side of the radiator. I had a centre nut from one of
six I have fitted come loose, so make sure it is tight. The receiver/drier unit
for the air conditioning was moved to accommodate the second fan.
Finally there are two more switches overhead close to the rear view mirror, and
operate map reading lights. They were originally from a Bluebird again, but this
time the unit was bonded to the sunroof motor enclosure and a fibreglass mould
made from the two. A copy taken from the mould was used to house the lamps and
switches. A socket was also attached to plug in the radar detector.

Silviagod's car has two alarms and a transponder type
immobiliser. The second alarm only operates when attempting to start the car
without disarming the immobiliser. The main alarm, when armed closes the windows
if open, locks the doors, closes the sunroof if open, closes the vent for the
heater ducting, flashes the indicators twice and sets a circuit to emit a subtle
beep every 40 seconds.
The central locking was from an old Lancia (shopping trolley type) and a diode
was used from the alarm indicator output to provide an interface circuit. I
chose the Lancia units because they have 5 wires and enabled me to also lock and
unlock the car with the key from either side.
I made the windows close with the alarm for around £3! Crude but simple and has
never given any trouble since I fitted them 10 years ago. I used a length of
broken push-bike cable, a micro-switch and two black Nissan relays for each
door. The relays are energised with the ignition on and offer a different route
when the ignition is off. When the alarm is turned on, if a window is open, the
cable between the micro-switch and the base of the window is slack. When the
window reaches the top the cable becomes taught, the micro-switch trips and the
current is turned off. Each window circuit is protected with a 7.5A fuse.
A different method was used to close the sunroof as that was only last year and
I have learned more since I did the £3 window trick. I used a one-touch amp
found in the driver's door of a Silvia (and of course the Bluebird) and wired
that to operate it. To make it close I had to provide an earth pulse to two
wires on the unit without interfering with the normal operation. I got round
that using a diode.
Closing the heater vent was more of a problem! To achieve this I used a broken
automatic electric aerial without the mast. The part that coils was fed through
fuel hose and attached to the vent door. To gain control back inside the car a
cable from a car with a manual choke and warning lamp was used. This was taped
to the existing cable, now unattached, and set to operate the switch part. The
switch part was wired to the motor and full control was regained. The motor
tucked up below the air conditioning cooler unit, and the cable fitted neatly
behind the glove box.
The quiet little beep every 40 seconds is provided by a small electronic circuit
using a 741 microchip.

Water Injection:Using parts from the breaker's yard again. An Audi cold start injector, a Ford
Granada headlamp washer motor, an adjustable pressure switch, a suitable washer
bottle, braided fuel hose and an electronic circuit to provide a rapid pulse.
The Ford Granada headlamp washer motor was ideal as it belted out over 34 psi.
Similar ones can be found on any car with a headlamp washer. I used a hole
cutter and fitted the motor into a reservoir bottle and left the screen washer
motor in for the mist spray over the intercooler. A level sensor from a Vauxhall
was fitted and wired to a bulb, and the injector was mounted in the intercooler
pipe. I fitted the variable pressure switch in place of the blanking bolt in the
inlet manifold and set the switch to the desired level. The system only operates
at the peak boost figure and doesn't add or take away any power. Any extra
cooling features, even amusing ones, must be beneficial in the long term.Intercooler mist system:
I hate electronics, but there is no way round it! Mechanical sensors don't work
fast enough. There are two circuits but I only made one. The one I made is
called a comparator circuit and was set to turn on above 40 degrees C. The
circuit uses a small temperature sensing resistor attached to the intercooler
surface. The signal from this unit is sent to a timer unit which is the
intermittent wipe circuit from a Silvia with a bigger resistor. The signal is
then sent to a washer motor in the reservoir used by the water injection, and
water jets are fired onto the surface of the intercooler. The water jet fires a
1.5 second burst every 30 seconds. That didn't cost much
either!

Used to provide interior light fade, and much more. They also can be used for
heated seat timers. Click on the title for more details.

Additional Fuses:
Due
to all the extra wiring and added systems 7 more fuses needed to be added. The
space in the main fuse box was filled and to fit the other six I found the
Nissan Micra had a handy little added fuse block to the main box, this contained
3 slots, so I used two of those. I fitted them above the main fuse box facing
down. This involved cutting two square holes in the panel. They are accessible
from behind the same flap and look neat. You can also see in the picture the
small battery compartment for the outside temperature display unit.

Speakers:
I am not a great in car entertainment person but I do like good
quality sound. I won't tolerate silly looking parcel shelves or luggage space
filled with bass stuff. I found that fitting even more speakers here was
perfect. It also stops folk filling the side pockets with rubbish for you to
empty when they get out of the car. The original units were replaced in the
process. However, since I made my exhaust I tend only to
listen to that now.

Intercooler:
I have been asked many times "What did it come off?" I still to this day have no
idea, but think it's probably from a 4x4 Nissan. It is very efficient and causes
no lag at all. There are disadvantages to this top mounted set up though! When
you come to a standstill the intercooler warms up, the dump valve has had to be
put on the hot side and I had to cut a big hole in my bonnet. An added heat
shield and the intercooler mist device eases the warming up problem. I only
really notice a slight uneven idle and probably wouldn't know only for the
additional information provided by added warning lamps. I made the connecting
pipe myself and at first the pipe blew off! I could still drive home though as
it hit the strut housing and bounced back on again. I added a further bracket
and it has stayed on since. I used a 45 degree bend from a 200SX and attached it
to the turbo. End of horrid orange seal! The turbo is still a standard T2 and is
the third one the car has had. The first one lasted 85K and started to get a
little stiff, the second one was second hand and I seized it being silly, and
this one I have now was second hand. The next will be a T2 hybrid with T25
internals.

Air Conditioning:This
was not fitted to the car when I bought it. I tried for ages to get the parts
without success. Eventually I bought what is now Mrs silviagod's car and
transferred the parts from that one. I had to buy a new radiator as the one on
the car had rotted due to the compost heap at the bottom between the radiators.
The picture shows the two added fans. Other modifications to this system are the
blue led mentioned previously, and an acceleration cut device. The acceleration
cut device is a modified actuator with a door pin-switch saddled to it. When
high boost levels are reached it switches off the air conditioning compressor
for 3 seconds. This device uses the unused spade terminal on the air
conditioning wiring loom, and is described in the workshop manual. On the
picture I found a couple of holes and had to strip the front end to repair it.
Some silly man pulled out on me when the car was only 3 years old. It went to a
Mercedes garage in Bryn to be repaired and they took 3 months to repair it! From
what I can gather, seam sealer was applied to a rusty seam! It is now pristine
again. Had they have got round to starting it sooner I wouldn't have had
that problem!

Sunroof:There
was an aftermarket sunroof fitted but I wanted an electric one that went up and
back over the top of the roof. I priced them up and got a shock! Two weeks later
I found one on a breaker's yard for £40. I couldn't wait to get it fitted! It
was bigger than the existing one and I was able to cut around it leaving the
roof rigid. The picture to the right is of the one touch amp mentioned
previously. This simplified the switch wiring to 3 wires and enabled alarm
closure. Making the roof lining presentable was a nightmare as I could not
return the interior light as I now had a bigger hole in the roof. I could not
find a black lining with a factory sunroof hole, I had to re-spray a pale one
and fit that. Also the interior light and bracket from a factory sunroof Silvia
had to be transplanted into mine. I then modified the motor enclosure with twin
map reading lights, finishing with the wiring into the alarm system.

Body and Trim:This
is how the car looked when I got it, and was completely standard. No later
type bumpers or bonnet. No side skirts, original wheels and spoiler. No
bonnet vents or air conditioning, no windscreen with a top tint, no electric
windows or mirrors. As soon as I got the car I was underneath applying hammered
finish paint. I also pumped over a gallon of Waxoyl in the sills, chassis
and behind the rear quarter panels. The car was 2 weeks out of the showroom when
I did that!By
the time these pictures were taken I had colour coded the mirrors and windscreen
wiper arms, fitted a pair of large fog lights (yuk) and a C.B. aerial. I was
also fond of painting the lettering on the tyres too. Now I am glad I don't have
to clean and polish the original wheels any longer! They used to take ages. 19
years on and the car looks better, handles better and sounds better.

Rear Bumper Change:Around
1993 the rear bumper was changed for the later version. Finding a place for a
rear fog light and a reversing light was a problem. I had an excellent idea
regarding the fog lights, I could use the two inner brake lights as and when
necessary, and when not needed they would continue to be brake lights. I changed
the blue relay for a black one, used the energised side for the fog lights and
the off side for the stop lamps. This worked perfectly, but the rear fog lamp
warning lamp operated with the brake pedal! The rear fog lamp switch had a
second pair of terminals that I found would switch another circuit, so I cut the
supply to the warning lamp and routed it through the switch. This was perfect,
because if you left your fog light switch on the warning lamp lit with every
touch of the pedal.The reversing lights were more difficult to fit as I had to cut rectangular
holes in the bumper and strip it down. I fitted rear fog lamp units found in the
early Bluebird. The housings where shaped to match the inside of the outer skin
and bonded. The impact absorbing section was cut to house the units and
reassembled.
To add an extra touch I fitted a 5W orange bulb (painted red) and wired it to
the tail lamp circuit. The lenses are clear (with an added tint) and they have
21W reversing lamps behind them.

As
I like gimmicks I wanted to use bulb failure sensors to monitor all the bulbs at
the rear. All including the reversing lamps and the number plate lights were
wired in through the sensors. The warning lamp bulb was sited to the left of the
of the left hand lens of the instrument panel. A symbol was inserted into the
strip between the lens and the bulb. These sensors found in bluebirds, can also
be found in the Nissan Sunny although some are yellow. The yellow sensor
monitors 2 x 5W less than the green sensor. All the bulbs to the front are
monitored, the front clearance lamps use this type of sensor. Click on the title
for more details.

Found
in older 1984 Bluebird estate models, and I have adapted them for use with my
headlights and front fog lights. The warning lamp is sited to the right of the
right hand lens at the side of the instrument panel. Click on the title for more
details.

This
is an electronic unit I had to make because the workshop manual showed one, but
said except Europe! The unit is triggered by a brief operation of
the headlamp flash position. The headlamps are then raised, the bulbs flash for
one second and the headlamps return to their retracted position. It saves having
to keep hold of the switch until the lights have become operational.

High Level Brake Light:Found
in the Rover 400 this light unit is an LED type and is very bright. The mounting
pads are adhered to the glass and a small section of the glass is painted black
on the inside to hide the wiring to the unit. There is no obstruction to the
rear view with this unit, unlike the rear spoiler!

Wheels and tyres:The
wheels are made by Smiths and cost £100. The tyres were £380 and are 205 x 55 x
15 Michelin Exaulto V rated. They do grip well and are only good for drifting
when the tread wears down to below 2mm. To add a finishing touch a self adhesive
Nissan emblem was added to the centre.

Maintenance:The
rim of the front wings in the wheel arch was in need of a little removal
of surface rust! The plastic arch guards were removed to gain access to both
sides, and the thin black border trims removed. Two small 2mm long brown
stains were noticed in the hammered silver paint in the driver's arch! These were investigated and
found to be insignificant. The hammered finish was restored in these small
areas. A small amount of surface rust was also detected at the
bottom of the
suspension spring. This will be attended to later in the year as the struts are
being removed to have the oil replaced with transmission fluid. The spring cup
was inspected and the small stones that block the drain holes were removed. The
passenger side was in better condition and from the picture the washer bottle
used by the water injection and the intercooler mist system can be seen. Above
the bottle is the green bulb failure sensor used for the front clearance lamps.

Polishing time again 18/07/04:Just
had a little tidy up and got the months of dust out from all the fibreglass work
I have recently done. Unfortunately the paint has cracked around the bonnet
scoop! I have been trying to repair the cracked lacquer to give me more
time to think before I re-paint the whole bonnet.
I may go down the Volvo front mounted intercooler route provided that I can
achieve a neat installation and keep the standard water radiator. My top mount
will go on the other red/bronze S12 that is awaiting restoration along with the
2.0 DOHC bonnet I have saved for it.

Illuminated ignition ring:A
lucky find at the breakers yard and very simple to fit. A Nissan illuminated
ignition ring off a Nissan Maxima. More suitable for the ignition barrel with
the safety button but as there is no button on mine I set an LED behind the
hole. The diameter of the hole in the cowl needed filing to a larger diameter
and the bulb for the unit was wired to the interior light circuit. As I have
interior light fade I decided to trigger this circuit when the alarm is turned
off too.

Turbo Timer:I
have now fitted a turbo timer to the car. It is a Fet TB202 and it came without
wiring instructions but was quite simple to wire. I had help by an email from
Mike who wired a Fet 303 and gave me his colour code.
Red to a permanent live, Blue to ignition, Yellow to accessory, Black to ground
and grey to the handbrake switch for the warning lamp. The only difference was
that Mike's handbrake wire was white. The car now continues to run for a set
time after the keys have been removed, and if the handbrake is released the
engine stops. It sets itself automatically but does not work out the timing like
the expensive ones do. The time is preset by the operator.

Power Steering Reservoir:I
always wanted to have my power steering reservoir chromed. Eventually I got
round to getting one chromed and it looks fabulous.

Stainless Steel Exhaust:The
good old back box I fitted to the exhaust I made around seven years ago decided
it wanted to rust and start blowing so I thought I would treat my car to a
stainless steel one. Having got an idea of the price of them I had a browse on
eBay and found some that looked as though they were good quality. It turns out
they were based under 50 miles away in Bury, so I had a ride over and was able
to see before I bought. The company was called Must Have Limited.
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Must-Have-Items-Online_W0QQsspagenameZl2QQtZkm or
you can ring them on 0161 705 1212 and ask for Miguel or
Dave. I was impressed so I bought two more for the other two Silvias. They are
single outlet pipes but are stainless steel and were a little less expensive.

Silvia Steering Wheel:It
has arrived! An S13 Silvia steering wheel all the way from Australia, and it
says Silvia on it. It is the same size but looks much better than the one I had
fitted. I also stitched a leather glove on to it as I had one on the other. I
also got the Silvia lettering from the back of the car and the emblem. If I decide to
design and fit a new rear spoiler I can use the lettering on the back of the
tailgate.

Chromed Rocker Cover:I
managed to get a rocker cover chromed and to further add to the appearance I
repainted the top panel that bolts on. I rubbed it down and painted it the same
colour as the car and put it the oven on a low heat whilst Mrs. silviagod was
out. Once the paint was hardened I rubbed back the lines and the lettering then
lacquered it and put it back in the oven. I am very pleased with it but half of
it is hidden by the intercooler. I may change to a front mounted intercooler in
the future so that all the chrome will be on display.

Additional Oil Cooler:Having
fitted a larger 19 row automatic transmission fluid oil cooler to the S13 I
decided that it would do no harm to fit an additional cooler to compliment the
existing 14 row one. I had noticed that in the hot weather the transmission
fluid was getting up to 90 degrees much quicker than in winter and on country
roads it was getting up to and above that temperature even faster. I had a trip
to London to make and I had three S13 differential oil coolers spare. I cut two
of the large brackets off the cooler and mounted it behind the air intake I
fitted to the driver's side of the front bumper. I noticed a 20 degree drop in
temperature drop on the motorway with the needle reading 70 degrees and it did
get to 90 in the heavy traffic coming out of London. The temperature sender is
in the sump and the
normal operating temperature of the fluid I am told is between 80 and 120
degrees Celsius. The sump temperature is probably a little cooler than the
temperature in the gearbox so the cooling system I now have is probably perfect
for summer use. I have fitted an aluminium guard underneath the cooler and also
one in front of the wheel with a louvered panel to protect the cooler from
stones picked up and thrown by the tyre, and I will continue to monitor the
temperature as the weather gets colder with a view to fitting a thermostatic
bypass for the gearbox to warm up quicker in the winter months.

Bonnet Modifications:April
2006, the bonnet paintwork had a few stone chips along with some of the lacquer
missing. I decided that it was time for a change. I had grown to despise the
Subaru air intake for the top mounted intercooler and wanted something that
looked much more refined. I cut two lines down the bonnet and pushed the centre
panel down to form an air intake within the lines of the bonnet and
as I was doing the intake I replaced the Astra GSI vents on either side for
Astra GTE ones. I made the side pieces for the air intake and welded them
to the bonnet from the underside and had a very damp rag on the top side of the
bonnet to minimise any heat distortion caused by the welding. I am much happier
with the way it looks now and it suits the car much more than the previous
attempt.

Extra space:
I have thrown up another little site with the intentions of improving it and
adding more pictures. My web skills are only limited but I am trying to learn
with the limited time I have available. Please have a look and feel free to
offer suggestions.http://www.angelfire.com/trek/silviagod/